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Monthly Archives: July 2018

The products featured in this post were given to me by Island Batik and Aurifil.

I'm pleased to be hosting TGIFF with my latest Island Batik finish. This month's Island Batik Challenge was to create a quilt using a block that created a secondary pattern when the block is repeated. The first thing that came to mind for me was The Bee Hive Quilts block tutorials (from a bee I participated in in 2015). They were all specifically designed with secondary patterns in mind. In my year in the bee I made numerous different blocks and one that I found was quick to sew an had a strong visual impact was the Checker block.

I took this opportunity to use the solid black fabric from my recent Island Batik box. I paired it with a Paisley Dot print in blue, a couple Island Batik Foundations, and my new Island Batik neutral, Rice.

Here's my first Checker block.

I love the versatility of this block. Here are some possible settings. These each use 16 identical blocks and finish at 48" x 48".

And finally... my finished quilt top.

I opted for some simple gentle curve quilting with the walking foot and backed the quilt with the rest of the blues and greens from my Island Batik stash. You get a sneak peek of Petting Zoo in two of my backing fabrics. Next month I will be featuring a project with the entire Petting Zoo line.

Please share your Friday Finish in the linkup below and be sure to hop around to view what everyone else has been up to this week! Thanks for visiting!!

I'm so pleased to be participating in the blog hop for Fandangle, Christa Watson's newest fabric line for Benartex. Fandangle is full of bright prints in fun, modern patterns. I was drawn to the cool color way of her designs.

After last month's Island Batik version of my Planned Improv: Scrappy Squares, I am excited to show a new variation on my technique. In my Planned Improv projects I have a general set of rules for creating the piece, and additional rules can give a twist to the design or provide continuity among different sections. Some of the rules I ended up following on this project include: the largest square is 12" finished, same general shape for each row, seven square along the top edge of each row (12" square in the middle), and rows off-centered from each other. I find that making a few adjustments to the design as I work can help add to the cohesive look of the overall piece.

My quilt top finished at about 41" x 54" So many of these fabrics are great blenders that would be a lovely addition to any stash.

GIVEAWAY (US addresses only)

For your chance to win a fat quarter bundle with a selection of 8 Fandangle fabrics, enter with Rafflecopter below by leaving a comment on my blog. Get a second entry by being a newsletter subscriber. Not a newsletter subscriber yet? Subscribe here, click to confirm your subscription in the email that comes to you. At the end of the giveaway I will email the randomly selected winner and they will have 48 hours to reply with their (US) shipping address or I will select a new winner.

I really appreciate Yvonne's nudge to revisit my 2018 goals for her 2018 Mid Year Review Linkup. A quick peek at my 2018 Goals post reminded me of what I had in mind for 2018. My goals break down into these categories: Teaching, Patterns, Design, Challenges, and Garment Sewing.

I'm still intrigued by the possibility of developing online quilt courses, but that piece continues to be on the back burner for now.

Patterns

There are three patterns in development (Scattered Squares, Floating Hexagons, and Ziggity Zag) which were slated for Q1 launch. They have been fully tested and are awaiting final edits and finished cover quilts. Other aspects of life took priority in Q1 and Q2 and Summer vacation does not provide a lot of time for the work that remains. They will be published as PDF patterns this year and I intend to have print patterns available by January 1, 2019.

Design & Challenges

I think these two actually go together, focusing on producing my own designs and participating in quilt challenges. I also wanted to use more solids. I've been using more solids in my designs, including submissions for Curated Quilts: i Mini and Connections. I participated in the six weekly Project QUILTING challenges at the start of the year. Mellow Yellow was one of those projects that featured solids. My involvement as an Island Batik Ambassador has provided monthly challenges in which to stretch my design muscles. And I've been working in a series with variations of my Scrappy Squares and All About Angles Planned Improv techniques. These projects will appear in my trunk shows when I lecture.

Garment Sewing

No progress here. I am allowing myself only two projects in the queue, with no further stashing of garment fabrics for future projects. (I already have a quilting stash and don't want to build a stash of garment fabrics.) Currently, I have the Butterick pattern, B6024, blouse in dark cerise chambray and a Blackwood Cardigan in black and white stripe bamboo jersey. Once one of those is made, I can queue up another. I've gotten so far as pre-washing my fabric for each.

I'm loving listening to the Love to Sew Podcast, which is a major inspiration to sew garments and I've love to make progress and add to #quiltersmakinggarments on Instagram. This may be a category for "once the kids are back in school."